Sec. 227. Radar obstruction research, development, test, and evaluation program
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The Secretary of Defense, in conjunction with the Director of the National Weather Service, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Secretary of Energy shall establish a research, development, test, and evaluation program (in this Act referred to as the Program ) to ensure the continued performance of weather radar detection and prediction capabilities with physical obstructions in the radar line of sight. In carrying out the Program, the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Interagency Council for Advancing Meteorological Services, shall— partner with industry, academia, Federal, State, and local government entities, and any other entity that the Secretary considers appropriate; identify and test existing or near-commercial technologies and solutions that mitigate the potential impact of obstructions on a weather radar; research additional solutions that could mitigate the effects of an obstruction on weather radar, including— signal processing algorithms; short-term forecasting algorithms to replace contaminated data; and the use of dual polarization characteristics in mitigating the effects of wind turbines on weather radar; and develop commercially viable technical mitigation solutions for obstructions to weather radar capabilities.
In carrying out the requirements described in subsection (b), the Secretary of Defense shall prioritize consideration of— multifunction phased array radar; the replacement of contaminated data with commercial radar data; the utilization of data from private-sector-associated meteorological towers; providing wind farm boundaries and consolidated wind farm areas to display on local forecasting equipment; installing and providing access to rain gauges; and any other technology-based mitigation solution that the Director of the National Weather Service determines could overcome beam blockage or ghost echoes.
The authority of the Secretary of Defense to carry out the Program shall terminate on the earlier of— September 30, 2026; or 1 year after date on which the final recommendation required by subsection (e)(2) is submitted by the Secretary. Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this section, and annually thereafter until the Program terminates pursuant to subsection (d), the Secretary of Defense shall submit to Congress a report on the implementation of the Program, including an evaluation of each technology-based mitigation solution identified for priority consideration in subsection (c), and a recommendation regarding additional identification and testing of new technologies based on such consideration.
Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary of Defense shall provide to Congress a recommendation on whether additional research, testing, and development through the Program established by subsection
(a)is needed, and a determination of whether a cessation of field research, development, testing, and evaluation is appropriate. In this section: The term beam blockage means a signal that is partially or fully blocked due to an obstruction. The term ghost echo means radar signal reflectivity or velocity return errors in radar data due to the close proximity of an obstruction. The term obstruction includes— a wind turbine that could limit the effectiveness of a weather radar system; and any building that disrupts or limits the effectiveness of a weather radar system.